Apparatus for producing working fluids.



o. KMUs.A APPARATUS FOR PRODUGING WORKING FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1911.

Patented July 16, 1912.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO KRAUS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO KRAUS ENGINE COMPANY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

AfPPARATU S FOR, PRODUCING WORKING FLUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 18, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known t-hat I, OTTO KRAUS, a citizen of t-he United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Producing Working Fluids for Moto-rs, of which the following isa specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for producing working fluids for motors; and an object of this invention is to provide anapparatus of the character just mentioned which will be simple and eflicient in practice.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus of this character in which complete combustion of the fuelwill take place.

A third objectv of this invention is to provide an apparatus of this character with a steam generator and superheater and so to construct and arrange the same that the working fluid delivered therefrom will be at a temperature which will allow waterjackets on the motors to be dispensed with, which will be non-injurious to the parts of the latter with which the working fluid comes into contact and which will, nevertheless, be suiiciently high to make the working of the motor highly efficient.

A fourth object of this invention is to control the passage of the products of combustion from the combustion chamber to the generator and superheater, as by a valve, and to provide means for automatically keeping this valve'lcomparatively cool.

A fifth object of this invention is to provide the generator and super-heater with means for breaking up and impeding the passagey of the stream of Water, steam and hot gases which flows thereinto and for transferring the heat from the hot gases in the stream tothe water and steam, whereby the latter are transformed into steam gas and the'hot products of combustionare cooled.

. Other features of this invention will be set forth in the description which follows.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of this invention and the best mode now known to me of applying that principle, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through my new apparatus; and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of F ig. 1.

The wall a of the casing b is almost entirely hollow and the annular space c between the inside and the outside of this hollow wall is connected by the water-supply pipe al with a'source of water supply of any suitable character, the water being forced in under pressure. The wall a incloses or surrounds the combustion chamber e within which is contained refractory material, such as pieces of fire-brick f. Near the inlet end of the combustion chamber e there is mounted in the wall a an igniter g of any suitable description. To the wall a of the casing Zi near the inlet end of the combustion chamber e there is fastened, by'the screw ring it, the casing v1 of a fuel-feeding device y'. To the chamber lo within the casing i air is led under pressure by the pipe m. Within the chamber le there is mounted a chambered spraying device or atomizer nozzle n; and within the. latter there is mounted a fuel-nozzle o, in which is a needle valve p. In the lower part of the casing 'el there is formed a chamber g into which liquid fuel is forced by the pump plunger r of the pump r. Between the head s of 'the plunger r and the pump cylinder 1' tank (not shown) through the fuel-inletv pipe u and past the ball check-valve w and is forced by the pump past the ball checkvalve fw into the oil-reservoir g. In the latter there is litted the upper end of an overfiow pipe y in which is mounted a ball-check valve fw and which communicates at its lower end with the interiorof the pumplcylinder m within which reciprocates the pump plunger which is similar in all respects to the-pump plunger r and is, like the latter, y controlled by a coil spring t. The outlet z from the pump :v is controlled by the ball check-valve 3, which is normally held on its seat by the coil spring 4. Compressed air entering through pipe m will normally flow through the opening fn. into the atomizer aand from the latter through the L-shaped air passage n to the fuel reservoir g, wherein it will exert a pressure upon the surface of the liquid fuel. When the air rushes out of the atomiz'er-nozzle n, this air-pressure will, due to the suction therein produced, force the liquid fuel through the fuel passage 5 into the fuelnozzle 0 and past the needle valve p out into the atomizer n, where it will mix with the air from the pipe m. This mixture of liquid fuel and air will be sprayed from-the atomizer n into the inlet end of the combustion chamber e, where it will be ignited by the igniter g. By manipulating the screwplug o', the flow of air through theannular passage n* and through the atomizernozzle n may be controlled so as to Vvary the volume of air which is fed direct to the.

combustion chamber e through the annular passage n* and the volume of which ypasses through the opening n to atomize the. fuel.

On the upper end of the casing b there is mounted the casing 6 .of the steam generating-and-superheating chamber 7. The top of the casing b is closed by a grating or foraminated plate 8 which forms part of the bottom of the casing 6 and, therefore, of the generating chamber 7. The casing 6 is formed with an opening 9 which is nor-A mally closed by the handhole cover 10. The chamber 7 contains small pieces 11 of any suitable material and these pieces are of such size as to oder a large heating surface and are at the same time not so small as to impede unduly the passage of the iuid through the chamber. I have found that a metal chain having small links 11 is well adapted for the purpose. The outlet end of the chamber 7 is provided with av foraminated diaphragm 8, which closes that end of the chamber against any danger of the chain being drawn therefrom. As will be understood from an inspection of Fig.-

the following arrangement of parts 1s pro-- vided, and is animportant feature of this.

invention: The annular waterejacket 0 is open at its top, which lies above the valve 12. Y That portion 8" v0f the diaphragm 8 which lies directly above the water-jacket c is imperforate. The flow of water in the water-supply pipe d is so regulated that there will be a constant overflow of water from the open upper end of the waterjacket c. Some of the water which overflows from the latter will fall into the cuplike valve and will maintain the same in a cool condition, despite the extremely high temperature of the gases issuing'from the combustion chamber e. Part of the water which splashes upwardly from the open t-op of the water-jacket c will strikeagainst the imperforate portion of the diaphragm Stand will be deflected downwardly into the cuplike valve. The upward movement of the latter is limited by a iinger 13 which. ex tends downwardly' from the diaphragm 8. The highlyeheated products of' combustion flowing past the valve 12 from the'combustion chamber e will mix with the steam and water flowing from the open top of the water-jacket c; and this mixture of gas, steam and water will pass through the foraminated part of the diaphragm 8 into theV steam generating and superheating chamber 7 The dimensions and arrangement of the latter are such that the water and steam will be transformed into steam gas, while the products of combustion will be cooled, so that the mixture of these products and the steam gas which iiows from the chamber 7 `thro-ugh the pipe 14 to the motor and whichis designed to serve as a working fluid for the same will be at a temperature so low that no injury will be done to the working parts of the motor with which the mixture comes into contact and the use of waterjackets may be dispensed with. The working fluid will, nevertheless, be of a suiiiciently high temperature to insure the motor working at high eiiiciency. The chainlinks yl1 breakup and retard the stream of water, steam and highly-heated gases iowing into thev chamber 7 through the diaphragm 8. These chain links 11, moreover, absorb heat from the highly heated gases and then give it up again to the water and steam, transforming the same into steam gas and bringing the whole mixture to the proper temperature for eiicient working in thev motor to which it issupplied through the pipe 14. The pressure of the spring 4 on' the ball valve'3 is of such degree that the ball valve 3 will not be raised by the pressure of the compressed air. However, should any liquid fuel overflow from the oil-reservoir g, it will be drawn. past the ball check-valve w and, after a sufficient quantity has accumulated in the pump cylinder it will, since it is practically incompressible, be forced past the spring-pressed ball-valve 3 and will flow back to the oil-tank (not shown). The pump plungers 1"', are driven by the beam 15 in any suitable manner. If desired, the water-supply pipe d may, in the case of a condensing engme, be connected,

with the latter and an increase of eiiiciency obtained by the preheating of the water supplied to the water-jacket c. A suitable drain-pipe e is provided for the combustion chamber e.

The operat-ion of my new apparatus may be brieiy described as follows: Liquid fuel, such as crude oil, is drawn by the pump plunger r through the fuel-inlet pipe u past the ball-valve or check-valve w and is forced into the oil reservoir g. From the latter the liquid fuel is forced by air pressure through the fuel-passage 5 into the fuelnozzle o and past the needle-valve p outfrom the nozzle into the atomizer a. The mixture of air and fuel is sprayed from the atomizer into the combustion chamber e,

where it is ignited by the igniter g. The combustion heats the pieces of refractory material f to an intense heat. After the refractory material has become incandescent, the fuel will ignite immediately on contact therewith and will burn completely, whereby perfect combustion will be attained. The electric igniter g may then be cut out and the apparatus will continue its operation. The heat generated by the combustion also raises the water in the water-jacket c to a high temperature. The cup-like valve 12 is kept comparatively cool by the water which splashes over from the water-jacket c and which is caught inthe cup-like valve 12. The products of combustion from the combustion chamber e mix with the Water and steam from the water-jacket c and this mixture flows through the foraminated diaphragm `8 into the steam generating-andsuperheating chamber 7. The chain links 11 in the chamber 7 serve to break up and impede the passage of the mixture of Water, steam land products of combustion. As hereinbefore stated, the hot gases give up some of their heat to the chain links 11 and are, therefore, cooled. The heat absorbed by the .chain-links is given up by them to the water and steam, which are thus transformed into steam gas; and the products of combustion and the steam gas flow through the grating 8 and the pipe 14 t0 the motor, which may be a single-cylinder or a multicylinder motor.

It is to be observed that the cup-like valve 12 will act as a check-valve to prevent the back flow of water and steam from the generating-and-superheating chamber 7 into the combustion chamber e. It will be understood that as the air compressor supplying compressed air through the pipe m, reciprocates, there may be caused fluctuations in the pressure in the combustion chamber e; and, when the pressure in the latter falls below that in the generating-and-superheating chamber 7, the valve 12 will close and will thereby prevent this back flow of water and steam ,which would cool the combustion chamber and interfere with the combustion of the fuel.

I claim:

1. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel, said means being providedl with a water-j acket; and a generatingand-superheating member in communication with said means and water-jacket.

2. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel, said means being provided with a water-jacket and a generatingand-superheating member which is in communication with said means and waterjacket and which is provided with devices for breaking up the iuid stream flowing through said member from said means and water-jacket.

3. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel, said means being provided with a water-jacket; a generatingand-superheating member which is incommunication with said means and Waterjacket; and links mounted in said member for breaking up the fluid stream flowing through said member from said means and water-jacket.

4. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a generatihg-and-superheating member which is in communication with said means; and a valve which controls the communication bet-Ween said means and said member; said means being provided with a water-jacket from which water overflows upon and cools said valve.

5. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a device for supplying water to the products of combustion flowing from said means; and a generatingand-superheating member into which flows the mixture of the products ofcombustion and Water.

6. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burni-ng the fuel; a device for supplying water to the products of combustion flow- .ing from said means; and a generatingand-superheating mem-ber provided with a `foraminated diaphragm through which flow the products of combustion.

7. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feedin devices; means for burning the fuel; a device for supplying water to the products of combustion Howing from said means; and a generatingand-superheating member into which How the products of combustion and which is provided with a foraminated closure at its outlet end.

8. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a device for supplying water to the products of combustion flowing from vsaid means; land a generatingand-superheating member into which flow the products of combustion' and which is provided with foraminated closures at its inlet vand outlet ends.

9. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a generating-and superheating member into which flow the products of combustion from said means; andmeans for supplying water to the products of combustion prior to their entrance into said member.

10. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; and a generating-andsuperheating member into which flow the products of combustion from .said means; theV latter being provided with a waterjacket from which water flows into said member.

11. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a generating-and superheating member into which flow the products of combustion from said means; and a valve which controls the communication between said means and said member; said means being provided with a water-jacket arranged to supply water to l said member' and to said valve for cooling the same.

12. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a generating-andsuperheating member into which flow the products of combustion from said means and which is provided with a foraminated diaphragm; and a valvewhich controls the communication between said means and said 'and said member; and means for keeping said valve water-cooled.

14. An apparatus of the character de.- scribed having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the'fuel; a device for supplying aqueous fluid to the products of combustion liowing from said means; a generating-and-superheating member into which flow the products of combustion and aqueous fluid; and mechanism for controlling the communication between said member and means.

15. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means Yfor burning the fuel; a device for supplying aqueous fluid to the products of combustion flowing from said means; a generatingandsuperheating member into which flow the products of combustion and aqueous fluid; mechanism for controlling the communication between said member and means; and means for coolin said mechanism.

16.'.An appara 'us of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means for burning the fuel; a device for supplying aqueous fluid to the products of combustion flowing from said means; and a generatingand-superheating member into which flow the products of combustion and aqueous fluid and which is provided with heat-trans ferring devices which retard the flow of said products and transfer heat therefrom to the aqueous fluid.

.17. An apparatus of the character described having fuel-feeding devices; means foi burning the fuel; a device for supplying aqueous fluid to the products of combustion llcwing from said means; a generating-andsuperheating member into which flow the productsl of combustion and aqueous fluid and which is provided with heat-transferring devices which retard the tiow of said products and transfer heat therefrom to the aqueous fluid; and mechanism which controls the communication between said memben and means.

Signed at New York city, New York, this fifteenth day of March; A. D. 1911; in t-he presence of the two undersigned witnesses.

OTTO KRAUS. lVitnesses GEO. M. BURDITT, JAMES HAMILTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. G. 

